Loreley Williamsburg (CLOSED)

We picked a lovely spring day for sitting outside, and they have nice space well walled off from the street. My impression is of a cultivated down-market biergarten look & feel. We arrived shortly after they opened, and they didn't seem quite ready to start. Although there was only one other couple in the place, the waitress was clearly still in the process of getting set up and took a while to get around to us. Nice brunch menu, and the food was well prepared from good ingredients - omelettes and the German pancake were our choices. Had to wait a bit for the coffee, which was weak and never refreshed. Seemed odd that a place with what appeared to be a full bar was not offering Bloody Marys, but then, it is a biergarten. Odder was the fact that they offered a mustard hollandaise sauce on both the omlette and a German benedict, but somehow it wasn't available. Worse, they substituted a capers in butter sauce without any mention of the substitution (we asked). It was a comfortable place, and we had a pleasant meal. I would probably go back. However, they clearly need to work a little harder on getting themselves together for serving brunch.

This place is awesome for day drinking in the garden with a group of friends. The only thing I missed at Radegast was that it was like being in a factory in the summer. I know this is strategically "hall," not biergarten, so this is a nice switch up from those that don't make that distinction. Beer list is on the short side but that's pretty typical at most others, and you can still get at least 1 of every type of German brew. Also, the hand of utter hipsterdom has not yet touched it, so it's the perfect neighborhood spot. Haven't had the food yet but it looks legit.

This beer garden is quaint, cozy, and has lots of options on the menu. I do like the place. I'd come back to have drinks and catch up with friends or unwind. I just wouldn't make the mistake of holding a birthday party here again. Consider this a heads up. There is a 15$ plating fee if you bring a cake. You get to blow out your candle, but the cake has to be cut, inside, by their staff. We were told that we can not have the knife outside (meanwhile we've been furnished butter knives, from our meals prior, that could've sufficed). Oh and don't even think about bringing a of drop outside food (not even a bag of popcorn I brought along for the festivities). I've been to other beer gardens where I was able to bring snacks in addition to ordering food and drinks, but these were Loreley's house rules- the staff had to follow through. I don't blame them. Staff were helpful and attentive.

We went there tonight to check it out. The staff was friendly and the atmosphere was nice enough. We started with Aufschnitteller Mit Verschiedenen Würsten, Käse, Brot cold cut platter with a variety of cold cuts, cheese and bread. Did not understand why it took almost a half hour to be served cold cuts. WE were told that it was because the cook thought that we had ordered just a cheese plate and they had to now add the meat. Well, when it finally came the meats and one typ of cheese was good. WE then ordered two more "small plates" bratwurst and then liverwurst...both were good and we got carrots and beets on those dishes, which was nice. The apple dessert was INCREDIBLE! Overall, I think that this place will do well once they get use to being there for awhile. The waitress that we had was trained at the Manhattan location. She was really great and knew the food well. We will be back soon.